Gridded Global Vegetation Types

Global digital databases of natural vegetation and land use were compiled, for use in climate studies, at 1 degree resolution from over 100 published sources. A series of 6 data sets, derived from the original compilations, was prepared and archived on tape at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) (Matthews, 1984). The first, this database, is a vegetation data set representing natural (pre-agricultural) vegetation based on the UNESCO classification system.

The ecosystem classifications used are: 1. tropical evergreen rainforest, mangrove forest; 2. tropical/subtropical evergreen seasonal broadleaved forest; 3. subtropical evergreen rainforest; 4. temperate/subpolar evergreen rainforest; 5. temperate evergreen seasonal broadleaved forest, summer rain; 6. evergreen broadleaved sclerophyllous forest winter rain; 7. tropical/subtropical evergreen needleleaved forest; 8. temperate/subpolar evergreen needleleaved forest; 9. tropical/subtropical drought-deciduous forest; 10. cold-deciduous forest, with evergreens; 11. cold-deciduous forest, without evergreens; 12. xeromorphic forest/woodland; 13. evergreen broadleaved sclerophyllous woodland; 14. evergreen needleleaved woodland; 15. tropical/subtropical drought-deciduous woodlands; 16. cold-deciduous woodland; 17. evergreen broadleaved shrubland/thicket, evergreen dwarf-shrubland; 18. evergreen needleleaved or microphyllous shrubland/thicket; 19. drought-deciduous shrubland/thicket; 20. cold-deciduous subalpine/polar shrubland, cold-deciduous dwarf shrubland; 21. xeromorphic shrubland/dwarf shrubland; 22. arctic/alpine tundra, mossy bog; 23. tall/medium/short grassland with 10-40% woody tree cover; 24. tall/medium/short grassland with < 10% woody tree cover or tuft-plant cover; 25. tall/medium/short grassland with shrub cover; 26. tall grassland, no woody cover; 27. medium grassland, no woody cover; 28. meadow, short grassland, no woody cover; 29. forb formations; 30. desert; 31. ice; and 32. cultivation.